Per questa bella mano

"Per questa bella mano", K. 612, is a concert aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composed in Vienna. It is dated 8 March 1791 on Mozart's own catalogue. Sung by a solo bass with an obbligatodouble bass. It is well known by players of the double bass, with difficult scale work and double stops. It may have been composed as an interlude in a performance of an opera buffa, written by another composer. The aria remains a popular and often performed concert piece today.[1][2]

The text of this aria is of unknown origin. It has been speculated that the libretto was from the comic opera Le vicende d'amore [it] (1784), written by Giambattista Neri; however, the two libretti are completely unrelated. The only similarities that they share are the opening four words "per questa bella mano", in Neri's libretto "per questa mano bella".[4]